National Signing Day is finally here and college coaches around the country are eager to hear where all the top high school football prospects will attend school next season.
A number of players have already declared their intentions, including Reuben Foster, who committed to Alabama after getting an Auburn tattoo on his arm. Many other top players have committed to schools, including the No. 1 overall recruit in the ESPN 150, defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, who decided to pick Ole Miss on Wednesday.
Nkemdiche is from Loganville (Ga.) Grayson and is considered to be one of the premier defensive prospects in the country. The star made his decision announcement Wednesday morning at a news conference broadcast on ESPNU, picking the Rebels over LSU and Florida.
Nkemdiche had visits at Florida, Ole Miss and LSU before deciding on the Rebels, where his rother Denzel Nkemdiche also plays. Nkemdiche said Wednesday that Mississippi was the best place for him and that he had the chance to play with his brother, who had a great season for Ole Miss, leading the team with 82 tackles from the defensive back position.
Ole Miss has been trying to snag Nkemdiche for a couple years and after making 18 sacks in two straight years, all the top college schools started going after him. Nkemdiche committed to Clemson during an unofficial visit last year, but he decided to change his mind after going to Ole Miss. During that time, according to ESPN.com, his mother, Beverly, made headlines by stating her displeasure with her son's actions while she was out of the country.
Nkemdiche spoke about that last October.
"My recruitment is crazy still, and Ole Miss is making a push for me," Nkemdiche said. "It does not matter to my dad, but my mom wants me to go to Ole Miss and we are still talking about it, so we have not come to an agreement on it yet. It is tugging my heart in two different directions."
Nkemdiche makes 24 commitments for Ole Miss for the 2013 season and their first five-star player. According to ESPN.com, "the team has already received a commitment from the nation's No. 1 receiver in Laquon Treadwell, is also heavily favored to land No. 1 offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (Lake City, Fla./Columbia) and has a chance to add ESPN 150 defensive end Chris Jones, ESPN 150 safety Antonio Conner, ESPN 150 offensive lineman Austin Golson and Nkemdiche's teammate Kamara."
Ole Miss went 2-10 two years ago and finished 7-6 this season and defeated Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl and Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl.
"I don't think we would be sitting here talking about this class that we're hopefully going to bring in without the momentum that was created by the end of the season," Rebels coach Hugh Freeze said last week. "Winning the Egg Bowl and being competitive in the big games -- Alabama, LSU, A&M -- and then winning our bowl game, certainly gave some credibility to our message to these recruits and their families."
Ole Miss should have a top five recruiting class for the first time in a few years after landing Nkemdiche.
